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PAPER
DISTRIBUTION OF FATTY ACIDS AND TOTAL LIPIDS
IN FIVE TISSUES
OF EDIBLE SNAIL HELIX LUCÜRUM (L., 1758)
FROM THE SOUTHEAST OF TURKEY
I. EKİN
Sirnak University, Engineering Faculty,
Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Sirnak, Turkey
Corresponding author: ekinihsan@gmail.com
AB ST R ACT
Th is investigation was carried out on fa tty acid c o m positions a n d total lipid quan tities in select
ed tissu e s (gonad, m antle, diges tive glan d, cepha lopeda l and whole body) o f Helix lucorum with the
aim o f evaluating bio c h em ica l and nutritional va lu e o f edible snail parts. C16:0, C18:0, C18:1ra9,
C18:2ra6, C20:2ra6 and C20:4ra6 w ere found as dom inant comp on e n ts. C18:2ra6 (24.44%) and
C20:4ra6 (17.49% ) were present in fair am ounts in the digestive gla n d and gonad, res p ectively. Th e
gonad and m an tle had a g o o d propo rtio n o f C20:2ra6 and the ceph alo pedal contain ed sign ifican t
amou n t o f C20:1ra9. X PUFA levels w ere hig h er th an XSFA and XM UFA le v els in all tissues. Overall
ratio o f Xra6/Xra3 was defined as follow: gonad, 9.07; m an tle, 7.26; cephalopedal, 6.02; w hole body,
4.86; d igestive gland, 4.06. Am on g th e organs, digestive gland and gona d show ed the highest pro
portion o f total lipid. Consequently, the stud y revea led that tis su es o f the snail are a good so u rce
for P UF A (polyu n saturated fatty acids), essential fatty acids C18:2ra6, C20:4o>6 (pre cu rsors o f ei-
cosanoids) and other om eg a 6 fam ily fatty acids, h ow ever the to tal lipid c o ntents w e r e not foun d
at th e expected am o unt. In num ero u s stu d ies, it is sta ted tha t snail m eat has several a dvan tag
es inc lud ing rich m inerals, essen tial a m ino and fatty acid s an d high c o ntent o f PUFA. Th e ir m ea t
is b e lieved to be a fa ctor a ffectin g h igh e r life sp a n and low er c a ncer rate in som e countries . High
amou n t o f C18:2ra6, C20:4ra6 and P UF A m ake th em im portant n u trition due to preventing ca r d i
ovascula r disease, infla m mato ry disorders a n d retin a and brain development.
- Keywords: fatty acids, edible land snail, Helix lucorum, tissues, total lipid -
56 Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 26 - 2014
IN T RO DU CT IO N
Hu m an bein g s have be en con sum ed sn ails
fo r th ous a nds of years and recen tly snails have
been used as fo od fo r m illio n s o f people w orld
w id e , pa rticu larly in so me E urop ea n co un
tries (JESS a n d MARKS, 1995; MURPHY, 2001).
France im ports edible sn a ils to a certain extent
to m eet th e n eeds of its m a rk e t. T ur k ey is one
of th e im po rtant coun tries w hich e xport snails
to F ranc e (ÖZOG u l et al., 2005) an d o th er E u
ropea n countries; Greece, Germ any, Italy and
Sp ain (YILDIRIM and KEBAPÇI, 2 0 04 ). S om e
com mercially im p ortant edible sn a ils in c lu ding
Cryptomphalus aspersus (Helix aspersa), The-
ba pisana, Eobania verm iculata, Cantareus ap-
ertus, Helix asemnis, Helix cincta and H elix lu-
corum (YILDIRIM and KEBAPÇI, 2004) are living
in Tu rkish territories.
Now ad ays, fa tty acids ga in more and more
im po r ta n ce be c au se o f th e nu trition al an d
hea lth a spects. E sp e cia lly , th e c on su m ption
of m arine produ cts rich in om ega 3 fatty ac
id s such as C20:5ra3 and C22:6ra3 ha s in
creas ed due to re sea rch es de mon stra t in g the
ben e fic ia l effect of these fatty acids in p re ven t
in g dis ease s inc lu din g ca r d iova scu lar disease,
in fla mm ato ry disorde rs , re tin a and b ra in d e
velop me nt (MILETIC et al., 1991; Ö Z OG ul et
al., 2005 ; MILINSK et al., 20 0 6). Sna il m ea t is
fo un d to be a facto r a ffe ctin g h igh e r life span
and low er ca nc er rate in Cre ta n Pe o ple co m
pare d with th ose o f con tine n tal E ur o pe (YILDI
RIM and KEBAPÇI, 200 4 ).
In ad d ition to ba s ic in form a tion ab out th e cul
tivation and h arvestin g of edible snails is n e ces
sary, the ir nutritional com position also shou ld
be well illum inated. Th e protein con ten t of ed
ible sn ail is well docum en ted (ÇAGILTAY et al.,
2011); h ow ever there is only lim ited inform a
tion on th eir tissues’ lip ids and fatty acids c o m
position. Th e purpose o f the presen t stu d y was
to p rovide quan titativ e and qualitative inform a
tion about the lipid and fatty acid com p osition
of som e im portant tissues of H. lucorum from the
Southeast o f Turkey.
MA T ER IA L S A N D M ETH OD S
Sam plin g
Helix lucorum snails were co llected in Ap ril
20 1 2 from the region o f Hevsel G ardens loca ted
in Diy arbakır (Altitude: 583 m, C oordinate: N 37°
55.2 ’ / E 40° 13.8’), Turkey. Individu ally, twelve
sn ails (three for tissues, th ree for w h ole body,
six for tota l lipid) sim ilar size (len gth: 5 ± 0.50
cm, w et flesh weig h t: 14 ± 0.80 g) were sam pled
fo r each tissue lipid analysis. Th e s n ails’ shells
were rem oved and divided into five groups and
th eir org a ns (gonad , m antle , digestive gland,
cep h alo p ed al and w ho le body) w ere disse ct
ed out. Then, tissues of each experim ental set
were co ndition e d in polye th ylene b a gs and kept
at -80°C un til chem ical a nalysis.
Ch em ical analysis
Dissec ted tissu es su ch as gonad, man tle, di
gestive g lan d , c ep h alo pe d al a n d wh ole bo dy
were an alyzed in triplicate for proximate com
position: lip id con tent of the sn ails by the BLIGH
and DYER (1959) meth od. Autoxidatio n of u n
sa tu rated fatty acids w a s m inim ized b y adding
50 ^L of 2% butyla ted hydroxytoluen e in chloro
fo r m to each sam ple during the extraction p ro
cess. N2 wa s u sed fo r dryin g process o f lipid ex
tracts. To tal lipids w e re p ut into reaction vials
and the fatty acids w ere transm ethylate d by re-
fluxing the fra c tions in acid ified (sulfu ric acid)
m e th ano l for 90 minu te at 85°C. FAM Es (fatty
acid m ethyl esters) of the tissu es w ere extract
ed fro m the reactio n vials three tim es with hex
ane and concen trated (STANLEY-SAMUELSON and
DADD, 1983). The total lip id quantitie s o f the tis
su es were p e r form ed acco rdin g to the method o f
FOLCH et al. (1957).
FAM Es we r e a n alyzed by ca pilla r y gas ch ro
m a tograp h y (GC) using H ew lett Packard (W ilm
ington, D E ) g a s chrom atograp h (m odel 6890), a
DB -23 ca p illary c o lum n (60 m x 0.2 5 mm i.d.
x 0.250 ^m film thickn ess and B o nd e d 50%
cyano p ropyl) (J. & W. Sc ientific, Fo lsom , CA),
a fla me ionization detector, and H ew lett- P ac k
ard C he m Statio n software. The in jectio n port
and the de tec to r tem pe ratures w ere 270° and
28 0 °C, resp e c tively . Th e split ratio w as 1:20.
Th e flow rates o f com pressed air an d h ydroge n
we r e 300 m L/ m in and 30 m L/ m in, res pe c tiv e
ly. Ca r r ier ga s w as he lium (2.8 mL/m in). The
ov en tem perature w as prog r a mm ed at a ra te o f
6.5 °C/ m in from 130°C (1 min hold ) to 170°C,
th en inc r e a sed a t a ra te of 2.7 5 °C/ min to a
21 5 °C, then a g a in inc re a sed a t a rate o f 40°C /
m in to 230°C, w a s he ld for 12 min . Each tis
su e fatty acid s perce n tages and s p ectra o f FA
M E s a re ob tained by HP 3 3 65 C hem Station
com pu ter program . FAM Es ex istence and re
te ntion tim es we re determ ined b y co mparing
th e sp e c tra o f a uthen tic sta nd a rds (Sigm a-Al-
drich C hem ica ls). Indiv idual F AM E w as iden ti
fied b y com pa ris o ns w ith the chrom atog ra p hic
beh aviors o f a u thentic sta n dards.
Statistica l an a lyses
The re s ults w ere expressed as m ean valu es ±
S.D. (S tan d a rd Devia tion ). A ll a n alytica l de te r
m ina tions were p erform ed in triplicate and the
m e a n values w e re rep orted. The analyses w ere
perform ed using a com merc ial sta tistical pro
gram (SPSS 20). Th e pe rcen tages of fa tty acid
were co m pared by An ov a variance analy s is with
5% significan ce level. Tu key ’s test was u sed for
co operation o f average values.
Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 26 - 2014 57
RES ULT S AN D D ISCU S SION
Nutrient conten t of edible an d nonedible sn ails
wa s studied up to s o m e extent. Comp a red with
in form ation on fa tty acid com position, lipid data
corre lated w ith ph ysio logical and enviro n men
tal factors in the snails is n o tably lim ited in the
literature. Som e o f the c o mm erc ia lly im po r
ta n t ed ible and w ild snails in clu ding H. aspersa
(ÇAGILTAY et al., 2011), H. aspersa maxima (MI-
LINSK et al., 2006), H. pomatia (ÖZOGul et al.,
2005), E. vermiculata (STAVRAKAKIS et al., 1989),
Helix sp., Ha.plotrema sportella., Vespericola co
lumbiana (ZHU et al., 1994) an d land slu gs Arion
ater, Limax maximus, Prophysaon andersoni (ZHU
et al., 1994) have been stu died in term s o f fatty
acid contents. A lm ost all d a ta inclu ded in mol-
lu s c a n lipid study conce rn the en tire organism
and only few reports on the tissu e fatty a cids are
ava ilab le (RAKSHIT et al., 1997). Telescopium tel
eskoptum (RAKSHIT et al., 1997), Bellam ya ben-
galensis, Pila globosa (MISRA et al., 2002), Unio
elongatulus (EKİN and BASHAN, 2010), Macoma
balthica (WENNE and POLAK, 1989), Argopecten
purpuratus (CAERS et al., 1999) are some o f the
tissue studied m ollusc species. Alth oug h H. lu-
corum , H. cincta, H. asemnis, T. pisana, E. ver-
miculata, C. asperses and C. apertus are m ost
ly distributin g edible sn ails o f T urk ey (YILDIRIM
and KEBAPÇI, 2004), there is no t enough stu dy
on th e ir to tal lipid a nd fatty acid composition.
C 16 : 0 (6 .7 -1 0.1 % ), C 18 :0 (9 .1 -1 0.7 % ),
C18:1o>9 (12.1-1 5 .7% ), C18:2ra6 (11.6-15.2% ),
C20:4ra6 (13 .5-14.3% ) w ere the m ajo r fatty ac
ids in P. andersoni, A. ater, L. maxim us slugs and
C16:0 (7.1-9.6%), C18:0 (8.9-1 0 .6% ), C18:1ra9
(10.0-12.2%), C18:2o>6 (11.0 -15.7%), C20:2ra6
(9.1 -12.1 %), C20:4ra6 (13 .8-16.9% ) w e r e major
fatty acid in Helix sp. H. sportella., V columbiana
sn ails (ZH U et al., 1994). Th e high percen tages of
th ese fa tty acids also foun d in so m e other fresh
wa ter snails Theodoxus jordani, Pyrigula barroi-
si, Melanopsis praemorsum, Melanoides tubercu-
lata, (GO et al., 2002), M. praem orsa (EKİN et al.,
2011), in edible land snails H. aspersa (ÇAGILTAY
et al., 2011), H. pom atia (ÖZOGul et al., 2004)
and in non e d ible snail T. telescopium (RAKSHIT
et al., 1997). In com pariso n with above studies,
the m ajor fatty acid profiles of H. lucorum shown
sim ila rities. C16:0 (8.95-1 4 .04% ), C18:0 (8.39
11.65% ), C18:1ra9 (11 .2 3-1 8 .20 %), C18:2ra6
(1 6 .21-24 .44% ), C20:2ra6 (4 .78-10 .5 2 %) an d
C20:4ra6 (8.8 9 -17.49%) we r e fou nd to be pre
dominant com ponent in all tissu es (Table 1). The
hig h est va lue of C20:4ra6 (17.49 % ) and C18:2ra6
(24.44%) we r e detected in the go nad a nd di
gestive glan d, respectively (Table 2). C18:1ra9
acid w as foun d in h igh am ount in wh ole body
(18.2 0 % ) a n d in the dig e s tive gland (17.18% )
(T a ble 2). H ow ever C20:2ra6 w as dete c ted in
high percentage in the gona d (10.52% ) and in
the mantle (10.09% ) (Table 2). Th e mostly im
porta n t essential fa tty acid, C18:2ra6 wa s fo u nd
in high co n ce ntra tio n in th e d igestive gla n d
(24.4 4% ) (Tab le 2). An im als (except som e in v er
tebrates) c a nno t synthesize C18:2ra6 fro m oth er
co m pon e n ts, they are obliged to take it fro m di
ets a n d m ust con su me for prope r health. A diet
only deficient in C18:2ra6 ca u ses most ab no r
m a lities such as poor gro w th, skin lesions, h a ir
loss, po or wou n d healing, fatty liver a n d rep ro
ductive failure. In T. telescopium snail, C16:0 was
12.9% in th e digestive gland, 26.2% in th e m an
tle, 21.1% in the ce p halo p edal and C16:1ra7 wa s
11.3% in th e dig e stive gland, 6.1% in the m an
tle, 4.9% in the cephalop edal. M oreover, there
were also som e stran ge resu lts in T. telescopium
snail, for in stan ce C18:3ra3 w as not detected in
the d igestive gland an d m an tle, but it w a s found
10.7% in the cephalopedal tissue. A d ditio na l
ly, C20:4ra6 w as 7.6% in the digestiv e gland; it
wa s very hig h com paring to m an tle (RAKSHIT et
al., 1997). In edib le snail H. aspersa maxima,
C18:2ra6 was rather a lot, b etween 44 .79-51.19%
(MILINSK et al., 2006). In contrast, a comp a rison
between the com ponen ts acid s of th e cephalo-
pedal, digestive gland and w h ole bo d y o f H. lu-
corum show ed som e po ints o f interest; C18:3ra3
wa s at high p ercentages in the dige stive glan d ;
th e percen ta g e s o f C22:0 varied from 2.10% (in
the digestive glan d ) to 4.19% (in the wh ole body);
C12:0, C13:0, C14:0, C15:0, C20:0, C14:1ra7,
C17:1ra7 and C22:6ra3 w ere detected less than
1% in all tissues; C20:1ra9 is present in signif
ican t am oun t (4.47%) in the cep h alo pedal tis
sue (Table 1). S n ail ceph a lop edal is considere d
as a storage organ (JOHNS et al., 1979), prob a
bly, the cephalopedal stored this fatty acid for
fu r th e r meta bolic activities. C20:1ra9 was also
ob tained in h igh percentages in U. elongatulus
ce p haloped a l (EKİN and BASHAN, 2010).
The Xra6/Xra3 ra tio ha s been sugg e s ted to be
usefu l ind ica tor fo r com pa ring n utritio n al v al
ues of tissue s lipids. Th e ra tio of ra6/ra3 was
9.07 (in the gon a d), 7.26 (in the mantle), 6.02 (in
th e cephalopeda l), 4.86 (in the wh o le b o d y) a n d
4.0 6 (in the dig e s tive g lan d ) (Table 1). T he p er
centage s of ra6 w as 5 0 .27, 45.4 2 , 41.04, 42.81
and 41 .54% in th e gonad , m a ntle, d igestiv e
glan d , ceph aloped al and whole body, resp ec
tive ly (Table 1). In addition, L. maximus, P. an-
dersoni, A. ater slu gs and H. sp. H. sportella., V.
columbiana (ZHU et al., 1994) species contain e d
hig h a m oun t o f Xra6 than Xra3. H owever, in the
m ost of the previou s studie s, it was rep o r ted
th at the pe rc e n tage o f Xra6 w as low er than Xra3
in marine mo lluscs (ABAD et al., 1995; PAZOS
et al., 2003). Fish is we ll kn o wn to b e th e m ajor
so urce of ra3 fa tty acids in the d iet and p e o p le
have b e e n aware of the h ealth ben efits asso c i
ated w ith co n su min g fish. The usefu l o>3 in fish
flesh are C20:5ra3 a n d C22:6ra3 (ÖZ OG u l et al.,
20 0 5 ). Unlike fish and m arine gastropods, lev
el o f ra3 in H. lucorum accou n ted for low qu an
tity. C22:6ra3 level va rie d fro m 0.03% (in the
gonad) to 0.22% (in the w hole body) and level
58 Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 26 - 2014
Table 1 - Fatty acid profiles of selected tissues from edible snail Helix lucorum.
Fatty
acids Gonad
(Mean^±S.D.)« Mantle
(Mean^±S.D.)^ Digestive gland
(Mean^±S.D.)^ Cephalopedal
(Mean^±S.D.)« Whole body
(Mean^±S.D.)«
Saturated
C12:0 0.07±0.01a 0.03±0.01 b 0.04±0.01b -0.09±0.02a
C13:0 -0.02±0.01 a 0.03±0.01a 0.06±0.01 b 0.07±0.01 b
C14:0 0.30±0.03a 0.66±0.05b 0.89±0.08c 0.40±0.05a 0.52±0.04d
C15:0 0.19±0.02a 0.31 ±0.03b 0.36±0.04b 0.25±0.03a 0.72±0.06c
C16:0 10.94±0.86a 14.04±1.19b 13.17±1.13b 8.95±0.81 c 12.55±1.07ab
C17:0 1.44±0.13a 1.25±0.11a 2.13±0.19b 2.19±0.20b 0.70±0.07c
C18:0 10.78±0.88a 11.65±1.01a 8.39±0.78b 11.42±1.12a 8.92±0.75b
C20:0 0.14±0.02a 0.24±0.03b 0.22±0.03b 0.19±0.02b 0.16±0.02a
C22:0 3.01±0.18a 3.05±0.22a 2.10±0.16b 3.45±0.25a 4.19±0.32c
ESFA 26.87±1.33a 31.25±1.65b 27.33±1.43a 26.91±1.27a 27.92±1.39a
Monoenoic
C14:1m7 0.04±0.01a 0.10±0.02b 0.06±0.01a -0.11±0.02b
C16:1m7 3.82±0.33a 3.72±0.29a 3.53±0.26a 3.22±0.24a 2.98±0.23a
C17:1m7 0.21±0.03a 0.08±0.01b 0.06±0.01b 0.11±0.02c 0.12±0.02c
C18:1m9 13.14±1.01a 11.23±0.92b 17.18±1.18c 15.76±1.12ac 18.20±1.27c
C20:1m9 0.27±0.03a 1.79±0.15b 0.29±0.04a 4.47±0.34c 0.52±0.05d
EM UFA 17.48±1.15a 16.92±1.13a 21.12±1.20b 23.56±1.26c 21.93±1.18b
Polyenoic
C18:2m6 16.12±1.17a 18.77±1.35b 24.44±1.56c 19.21±1.43bc 20.78±1.48bc
C18:3m3 2.83±0.22a 4.34±0.37b 7.30±0.54c 4.99±0.31b 6.41±0.53bc
C20:2m6 10.52±1.04a 10.09±1.17a 4.78±0.31b 8.28±1.14c 6.55±0.62d
C20:3m6 4.25±0.37a 3.09±0.22b 1.76±0.15c 1.86±0.16c 2.09±0.17c
C20:4m6 1749±1.26a 12.25±1.05b 8.89±0.77c 12.76±1.12b 11.23±1.02b
C20:5m3 2.68±0.24a 1.88±0.16b 2.70±0.21a 2.03±0.19b 1.91±0.13b
C22:5m6 1.89±0.19a 1.22±0.09a 1.17±0.16a 0.70±0.08b 0.89±0.10b
C22:6m3 0.03±0.01 a 0.04±0.01a 0.10±0.02b 0.09±0.02b 0.22±0.03c
m6 50.27 45.42 41.04 42.81 41.54
m3 5.54 6.26 10.10 7.11 8.54
m6 / m3 9.07 7.26 4.06 6.02 4.86
EPUFA 55.81±2.12a 51.68±2.03b 51.14±2.03b 49.92±1.99b 50.08±2.08b
Results expressed as percentage of total fatty acids methyl esters.
*Values are means ± S.D (Standard Deviation) for three samples of triplicate analysis.
**Means followed by different letters in the same line are significantly different (P < 0.05) by Tukey's test.
ESFA: Saturated Fatty Acids, EMUFA: Monounsaturated Fatty Acids, EPUFA: Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, ra6: Total of omega 6 fatty acids, ra3: Total of ome-
ga 3 fatty acids.
Table 2 - Major fatty acids compositions (%) of the tissues from Helix lucorum.
Tissues Predominant six fatty acids of Helix lucorum and their percentages (%) Total percentages (%)
Gonad C20:4m6 C18:2m6 C18:1m9 C16:0 C18:0 C20:2m6 78.99
(17.49) (16.12) (13.14) (10.94) (10.78) (10.52)
Mantle C18:2m6 C16:0 C20:4m6 C18:0 C18:1m9 C20:2m6 78.03
(18.77) (14.04) (12.25) (11.65) (11.23) (10.09)
Digestive gland C18:2m6 C18:1m9 C16:0 C20:4m6 C18:0 C18:3m3 79.37
(24.44) (1718) (13.17) (8.89) (8.39) (7.30)
Cephalopedal C18:2m6 C18:1m9 C20:4m6 C18:0 C16:0 C20:2m6 68.10
(19.21 ) (15.76) (12.76) (11.42) (8.95) (8.28)
Whole body C18:2m6 C18:1m9 C16:0 C20:4m6 C18:0 C20:2m6 78.23
(20.78) (18.20) (12.55) (11.23) (8.92) (6.55)
of C20:5ra3 wa s b etwe e n 1.88% (in th e m an tle)
and 2.7 0 % (in the d igestive gland) (Table 1). The
highes t va lue o f ra3 w as foun d to be 10.10% in
th e digestiv e gla n d because o f relativ ely high
percentage o f C18:3ra3 (7.30%) (Table 1). The
differen ces in th e level o f ra3 and ra6 fatty acids
of species is p oten tia lly d u e to d ieta ry factors
becau se marin e plank ton are rich in ra3 fatty
acids, wh ile terrestrial an d fresh w ater p lan k
to n s are rich in ra6 a c ids (SARGENT, 1976). A d
ditionally, end o geno u s factors such as ge ne t
ic, p hysiology, b iochem ical rea c tion etc. m ay
Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 26 - 2014 59
Table 3 - Total lipid content of the tissues from Helix lucorum (g/100 g wet tissue ±S.D. % on basis o f total lipid).
Tissues Gonad Mantle Digestive gland Cephalopedal Whole body
Total lipid 2.52±0.40 0.93±0.14 3.54±0.37 1.21 ±0.13 1.09±0.23
affe ct accu mulatio n of ra3 and ra6 fatty acids
in the sp e c ies tissu e s.
The maxim um am o u nt o f ESFA (saturated fat
ty acids), E M UFA (m o n ounsaturated fa tty acids)
and EPUFA (polyu n satu rated fatty acids) were
fou n d in the mantle (31.2 5% ), in the cep h alo
pedal (23.56%) and in the gona d (55.81%), re
sp ectively. It is o f the interest th at a considera
ble a m ount o f EPUFA wa s detected in all tissue
analyses. EPUFA level o f each tissue w as h igh er
th an 50% (ex cept cephalopedal tissue w h ich is
49.92% ) nea rly equal to su m of ESFA an d EM UFA
levels. E P U FA levels o f the tissues d ete c ted high
bec au se o f h igh con ce ntra tion of C18:2ra6,
C20:2ra6 and C20:4ra6 (Table 1). It w as repo rt
ed that EPUFA level wa s higher than EM UFA and
ESFA levels in L. maximus, P. andersoni and A.
ater slugs (ZH U et al., 1994). In edible snail H.
aspersa, sum o f EM U FA and EP U FA w as 55.02 %
and EP U FA wa s at the highest level (ÇAGILTAY et
al., 2011). In an another ed ible snail H. aspersa
maxima, EPUFA levels were also obtained at high
percen tages (b etw een 46.40-54.97%) (MILINSK
et al., 2006). On the oth er hand, it h as been ex
pre ssed that high ESFA (37.87 % ) and low EPUFA
(25.83% ) level w ere foun d in edible snail H. po
matia (ÖZO G ul et al., 2005). Briefly, tissues of
H. lucorum are ch aracterized by high p e r c e n tag
es of PUFA. However, lipid and fatty acid con
ten t of a sn a il tissue m ostly depends o n sev e r
al fa ctors such as seasona l changes, nu trition
al availability, environm e n tal factor, physiology,
rep rodu c tion, tissue functions, etc. T he notable
diffe rence being the high level of EPUFA w ith a
so m ewhat decreased relativ e c o n centration level
of ES FA and EM UFA in th e snail tissues prob a
bly rela tive to tem peratu re conditions because,
th e sam p les we re collected during A pril w he n
tem pera ture is still lo w (approxim ately 15°C).
Prosta g land in s are c o ns iderab ly im portan t
molecules in m ollusc physio logy such as possi
ble ren al function, ion regulation in gill, and re
productive functions in gonad (STANLEY-SAMUEL-
SON, 1987). It is em path ized that egg production
in freshw ater snail H elisoma durgi w a s stimu lat
ed by prostaglan din s (KUNIGELIS an d SALEUD-
DIN, 1986). In com parison with other fatty ac
ids, C20:4ra6 (precursors of prostaglandins) w as
in fair am ount in the tissues partic u larly in the
gon ad (17.49%). Prob ably, this high valu e is re
lated to rep rod u ction activity or accelerated fe e d
ing activities after em erging from hibern a tion.
The digestive gland (3.54%) and gonad (2.52%)
of the sn a il exh ibited m axim u m reserve o f total
lipid wh ereas m an tle (0.93%) and cephalopedal
(1.21% ) contain ed rela tively low quantities (Ta
ble 3). Th is signifies that dig e stive gland a n d go
nad are m ore a ctive organ s. It was declared that
th e se organs h ad m ajo r proportion o f total lipid
in gastropod (VOOGT, 1983). In the study of T.
telescopium, to tal lip id am oun t w as foun d to be
36 .91 % in the digestive glan d , 13.44% in the
mantle, 11.67% in the ce p halopedal (RAKSHIT et
al., 1997). Th e re su lts are ve ry high fo r an edible
lan d snail. Th e most of the stu d ies m entioned
th at land snails contain low quantities o f lipid
(ÖZOG ul et al., 2005; MURPHY, 2001). Total li
pid percentages o f H. aspersa maxima varied be
tw een 0 .45% and 2.66% (MILINSK et al., 2006).
In conclu sion, given im proved cu ltural tech
niques, H. lucorum b e c o m e the po tentia l a rich
source of un sa tu ra te d fatty acids; C18:1ra9,
C18:2ra6, C20:2ra6 a n d C20:4ra6 (ra6 fa tty acids)
th at the snail m eet contain s s ignificant am ount
of essentia l fatty acid (C18:2ra6). P UF A s with
more than 20 C atom s are ind icatin g that the
use of this food is good for diets, irrespective of
to tal lipid content. In a d dition, the resu lts can
be im p orta n t guid e for fu rth er inv estigation on
physiolog ical, b ioch em ical and system atic stud
ies o f mollu scs.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author is grateful to Mehmet Başhan, Rıdvan Seşen and
Elif Cengiz Satar for their statistical, systematic and exper
imental support.
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Paper received April 30, 2013 Accepted August 2, 2013
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